SHABBY CHIC!!

  

Akamuti's Castor oil is perfect for this. Just make sure you get the balance for your skin type right.

Organic & cold pressed 

Castor oil

THEM: 'For thousands of years, castor oil has been revered for its therapeutic properties and has remarkable skin caring qualities.' 

AHC: This is the star of the show. It's a fantastic oil that dissolves dirt, impurities and make up and has a highly bacterial nature. This one is from Akamuti, I really like and trust their products.

COST: £5.50

BUY HERE

Don't be thinking I choose natural products just because I'm a bit of a hippy (ok I am a bit of a hippy) but I choose them because they work!

Lets get one thing straight. While I am a bit of a hippy-esque earthmother, when it comes to my skin I'm just as vain as the rest of you. I want soft, smooth, blemish-free skin and since I'm not getting any younger I also want the BEST wrinkle-preventing ingredients drenching my face at all times. I have now tried most products under the sun. I thought a chemical-heavy cream would be the ticket to ironing out my crows feet, but after much trial and error it appears to be quite the opposite. My skin has never been better and it's all down to our lovely, very potent mother nature! Note: I'm not getting paid to say this ... I wish I was, but I'm not.

Sass and belle patchwork house bunting

'You and me' stamp by Noolibird. Note this is a close up!

Today I found this gorgeous table for £20 ... it's leg was broken but it took all of 2 mins to glue it back on.

My family photographs - where north meets south

My crafty pals, AKA The Bishops Stortford Craft Club and I headed out to the Waltham Abbey Wool Show this weekend. It was such an inspiring afternoon I had to share it with you. These women blew me and my crafty pals away with their skills, their creativity and how that they've turned their passions into thriving business. Read on to be inspired!

This lovely stall above belongs too Namolio ... they make accessories and sell gorgeous supplies for sewing, knitting, crocheting and other related crafts. The ladies below are from the West Essex and east herts guild of weavers and dyers. It really made me want a spinning wheel ... possible new hobby coming on.

This gorgeous woman is Jeannette Sloan of  jeanettesloandesign.com ... she's a knitwear designer and  sells all sorts of lovely kits - I have my eye on quite a few of them (especially the fingerless mitts and the shawls!).

This cheeky chap-ette is Sarah from Weaveknitit.co.uk. She and her business partner Jane run a company selling beautiful yarn (I bought 6 balls of it) which they hand spin themselves. They also run courses : )

As for me, I now have enough wool to fill a field so I better get cracking on my spring blanket!!
 

Ok folks, let's have a quick recap. So far, we've talked about the potential dangers of chemical-based products in Becoming a natural beauty and we learned how to really read labels in Chemicals to avoid and understanding the labels. So now it's time to get on to the fun stuff! Now the good news is natural beauty brands are well and truly on the rise. The bad news is they can be a little bit more pricey than your regular high products, and it's not because of their packaging. It's because when it comes to natural ingredients, you really do get what you pay for.

Toadstool lamp in red (they also do blue!)

I'm a sucker for ceramics ... mugs, jugs and bowls especially. When is comes to bowls you simply can't go wrong with Mason Cash. Established in 1800, this iconic brown bowl has held our cake mix for decades. I was always on the lookout for a classic brown Mason Cash bowl in the charity shops but I had no luck. Annoyingly my best friend did and she clearly took pleasure in telling me so!

Photograph from Mason Cash